There was one reason and one reason only why we put Hội An on our hit list. Food.

We’d read so much about the tasty treats on offer in the ancient trading port of Hội An that we decided it was a must-see. When we arrived we got far more than we bargained for.

We cycled out of town through the ‘vegetable village’ and miles of rice paddies

For starters, it’s a very well preserved town, surviving a lot of the bombings during the Vietnam War. The old town is charming, a little slice of traditional Southeast Asian life. The streets are lit by coloured lanterns hanging from the trees and small Buddhist alters glowing out from the homes. There are a few beaches nearby, Cua Dai being the main tourist beach where swish hotels are opening up and filling the beaches with pasty limbs, or there’s An Bang beach, just a bit further up the coastline where it’s mostly ex-pats and local fishermen. We opted for the latter and were the only people on the beach for a good part of the day. When the sun gets too hot we’d recommend chilling out on the sofas at Soul Kitchen with a fresh lemon juice.

We had the place to ourselves

Just us and the fishermen

It was tough but we survived somehow

The markets are a major draw to Hội An. They’re bustling with Vietnamese women, haggling over fish, cooking up fresh cao lau and hacking up huge slabs of meat. The food here is by far the best in the city. Saying that we did treat ourselves to a bit of a slap up meal at Morning Glory restaurant – we felt we’d earned it after our bun bo Huế experience – which was excellent.

The fish cooked in banana leaves smothered in all kinds of tasty spices was my fave

Our first fresh spring roll experience in the streets on Hoi An was super tasty too

Being renowned for some of the best food in Vietnam, we decided this would be the best place to try our hand at Vietnamese cooking.